Meditate
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Daily Light's Evening Reading
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.—PSA. 141:2.
Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: . . . and thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: . . . and when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
[Jesus] is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.—The smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Pray without ceasing.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“Let the people renew their strength.”
Isaiah 41:1
All things on earth need to be renewed. No created thing continueth by itself. “Thou renewest the face of the year,” was the Psalmist’s utterance. Even the trees, which wear not themselves with care, nor shorten their lives with labour, must drink of the rain of heaven and suck from the hidden treasures of the soil. The cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted, only live because day by day they are full of sap fresh drawn from the earth. Neither can man’s life be sustained without renewal from God. As it is necessary to repair the waste of the body by the frequent meal, so we must repair the waste of the soul by feeding upon the Book of God, or by listening to the preached Word, or by the soul-fattening table of the ordinances. How depressed are our graces when means are neglected! What poor starvelings some saints are who live without the diligent use of the Word of God and secret prayer! If our piety can live without God it is not of divine creating; it is but a dream; for if God had begotten it, it would wait upon him as the flowers wait upon the dew. Without constant restoration we are not ready for the perpetual assaults of hell, or the stern afflictions of heaven, or even for the strifes within. When the whirlwind shall be loosed, woe to the tree that hath not sucked up fresh sap, and grasped the rock with many intertwisted roots. When tempests arise, woe to the mariners that have not strengthened their mast, nor cast their anchor, nor sought the haven. If we suffer the good to grow weaker, the evil will surely gather strength and struggle desperately for the mastery over us; and so, perhaps, a painful desolation, and a lamentable disgrace may follow. Let us draw near to the footstool of divine mercy in humble entreaty, and we shall realize the fulfilment of the promise, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Micah 3
3. Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
Wicked Rulers and Prophets
3
And I said:
Listen, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Should you not know justice?—
2
you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin off my people,
and the flesh off their bones;
3
who eat the flesh of my people,
flay their skin off them,
break their bones in pieces,
and chop them up like meat in a kettle,
like flesh in a caldron.
4
Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have acted wickedly.
5
Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against those
who put nothing into their mouths.
6
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without revelation.
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7
the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8
But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9
Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
and pervert all equity,
10
who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with wrong!
11
Its rulers give judgment for a bribe,
its priests teach for a price,
its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
“Surely the Lord is with us!
No harm shall come upon us.”
12
Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
New Testament in Four Years - Acts 23:23-35
23. Paul Transferred to Caesarea
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Get ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen.24Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix the governor.”25He wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings.27This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but when I had learned that he was a Roman citizen, I came with the guard and rescued him.28Since I wanted to know the charge for which they accused him, I had him brought to their council.29I found that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but was charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.30When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him during the night to Antipatris.32The next day they let the horsemen go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.33When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.34On reading the letter, he asked what province he belonged to, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,35he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod’s headquarters.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 135
135. Psalm 135
Psalm 135
Praise for God’s Goodness and Might
1
Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2
you that stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
3
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for he is gracious.
4
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.
5
For I know that the Lord is great;
our Lord is above all gods.
6
Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;
he makes lightnings for the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8
He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both human beings and animals;
9
he sent signs and wonders
into your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10
He struck down many nations
and killed mighty kings—
11
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12
and gave their land as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.
13
Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14
For the Lord will vindicate his people,
and have compassion on his servants.
15
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see;
17
they have ears, but they do not hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18
Those who make them
and all who trust them
shall become like them.
19
O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who resides in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!